BJP, JDS boycott Assembly, call for no-confidence against Speaker over MLA suspension

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

BJP and JDS boycotted assembly proceedings on Thursday, in protest of Speaker UT Khader suspending 10 BJP MLAs for the ruckus in the house the day before. The parties allege that the post of the Speaker is being misused for political gain. The BJP has called for a no-confidence motion against the Speaker UT Khader.

Party legislators, led by former CM Basavaraj Bommai, protested in front of the Vidhana Soudha, saying that they would take this fight to the district level if necessary. “The Speaker could’ve called the MLAs and solved the problem,” said Bommai. The JDS joined the BJP in condemning the proceedings, with former CM HD Kumaraswamy slamming Siddaramaiah for giving wrong information to the House and the Speaker for acting in a biased manner.

“The Speaker’s chair has been misused. A matter which could have been resolved in two minutes has been dragged out this far,” he said. Both the parties jointly submitted a memo to governor Thaawarchand Gehlot asking that the CM be made to answer why IAS officers were assigned protocol duty for the Congress-led Opposition parties' meet in Bengaluru, an act the party called «misuse of government machinery.» “The IAS officers are not Congress workers for them to stand guard to these politicians at the expense and cost of the state government,” the memo stated.